Butte board opposes Oroville tribe's Yuba County casino

OROVILLE — Even though a tribal representative asked for a chance to fully explain their side of the story, a divided Butte County Board of Supervisors voted to oppose a proposed Enterprise Rancheria casino in Yuba County.

The resolution, presented to the board by Oroville Supervisor Bill Connelly, asserted the creation of another Indian casino in Yuba County would have a negative impact on the Gold Country Casino, owned by the Tyme-Maidu Berry Creek Rancheria, and the Feather Falls Casino, owned by the Concow-Maidu Mooretown Rancheria, both of which are located in Butte County.

Charles Banks-Altekruse. a member of the "communications team" of the Enterprise Rancheria project, asked the board to give him two weeks to present a detailed response to the resolution so the supervisors could make an informed decision.

He claimed the Yuba County proposal would be four times the size the tribe could construct in Butte County and would bring more "indirect" taxes as well.

All of this could be accomplished, according to Banks-Altekruse, without having to "cannibalize" clientele at the two existing casinos in the county.

While he distributed folders to the supervisors that he said would prove his point, he still asked the supervisors to postpone a decision on the resolution for two weeks.

The two-week time delay is a key because the Legislature is about to consider a measure related to the Yuba County casino proposal.

Banks-Altekruse said it would be at least two weeks before the Legislature would conduct hearings on the measure.

Paul Hahn, Butte's chief administrative officer, said he had done no research on the bill's schedule, but taking Banks-Altekruse's timetable as accurate, he said two week's delay could be a problem.

Hahn explained that information submitted to a committee hearing, such as the proposed Butte County resolution, can carry special weight. Two weeks delay could make it too late to present information to the committee.

Butte County Counsel Bruce Alpert said the county has a "long standing policy" against "off-reservation gaming."

Banks-Altekruse said the Yuba County site had been approved by the necessary agencies and was well within the "historic lands" of the tribe.

Guy Taylor, director of the environmental protection office for the Concow Maidu, owners of Feather Falls Casino, said, "The negative impacts to both tribes and Butte County are obvious." After the meeting he said he was speaking as a private citizen and not in his official capacity.

Chico Supervisor Larry Wahl, who said he would prefer to let the tribes put their casinos where they want and let the market decide the winners and losers, asked the board to postpone a decision for two weeks to allow the Enterprise Rancheria make its case.

"This ought to be one of those live and let live things," said Wahl.

"Quite frankly, the Native Americans have been screwed for hundreds of years," he continued.